The Milwaukee school district is taking extra precautions to make sure kids are staying warm.

With temperatures struggling to make it out of the single digits, the playground at Westside Academy in Milwaukee was a desolate place Thursday. Milwaukee Public Schools canceled outdoor recess to avoid risking frostbite.

"When the temperature falls below 18 degrees, we keep our students in. Immediately, once they get off the bus, we scurry them into the building to keep them warm," Westside Academy Principal Zannetta Walker said.

Canceling recess is one thing, but MPS will occasionally cancel school if it's cold enough. The last time they did it was five years ago, in January 2009 when the high temperature was zero.

"We're always on the lookout to make sure kids are dressed appropriately," MPS social worker Lori Sanders said.

Sanders said when kids aren't properly dressed the school will step in to help, relying on observations from teachers and other school staff.

"I do have coats on hand if we have a student who needs a warmer jacket, or if someone has a zipper that's broken we're able to help with coats, hats, mittens, scarves," Sanders said.

The donated coats were supplemented Thursday by 50 hats, gloves and scarves -- part of the proceeds of the MPS mitten tree drive.

"We see too many kids coming to school without hats, without mittens and they're cold," MPS volunteer coordinator Heather Aschoff said.

"We know that with the situation many families are faced with, and the economy that we live in, families are doing the best that they can, but oftentimes don't have the things that they need," Sanders said.With a continued cold stretch ahead, the kids need to be prepared.

Anyone wishing to help the MPS mitten tree drive can drop off new hats, mittens and scarves at MPS headquarters on Vliet Street near Hawley Road.